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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816730">Gossip</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErRose/pseuds/ErRose'>ErRose</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: The Original Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Meetings, M/M, One Shot, Pining, Pre-Canon, Strange New Worlds, bi kirk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:41:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,854</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErRose/pseuds/ErRose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Spock overhears some gossip about Jim Kirk that he finds... intriguing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James T. Kirk/Spock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>249</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gossip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With the Enterprise docked for a three day maintenance check, Captain Pike had insisted that Spock spend at least two of those days on leave. He requested permission to continue his experiments in one of the station laboratories and was summarily denied. He requested to assist Louvier with the required duties in engineering, but his captain’s face told him that he was not above making rest and recreation an order, so he complied. </p><p>He spent the first few hours of leave feeling lost. He weaved through the promenade full of shops and tourists. Everyone spoke too loudly, smells swirled and clashed in a dizzying array, and the bright flashing lights from all sides threatened to overwhelm him, so he retreated to the quiet peace of his temporary quarters. After 15.9 minutes of meditation, his PADD pinged with a message from Captain Pike. </p><p>
  <em>I hope you’re enjoying your R&amp;R. You might think I was too harsh on you, but you need this time to shake off those cobwebs. It’s been a long couple of months for you and you need a rest.</em>
</p><p>Between being accused of murder and the disappearance of the <em>USS Discovery</em>, he would admit- at least to himself- that the past few months had been more challenging than most, but still Spock was tempted to reply that the average length of a standard month was based on the cycle of Earth’s moon, and had therefore not changed in over a thousand years, but deleted the message and started over.</p><p>
  <em>I appreciate your concern, however vulcans do not require vacation to regain strength of mind the way humans do.</em>
</p><p>He did not want to rest. Work kept his mind busy- kept him from wondering how Michael was. He knew she survived the trip, because they had seen her signal, but that did not mean she was safe or happy. Worrying did nothing to help, but his human half couldn’t stop it. He replayed her last words to him in his head almost constantly. </p><p>His PADD pinged again <em>Humor me</em>. With a roll of his eyes that he didn’t bother to conceal in the privacy of his own quarters, he gathered his things and set out on an illogical journey with no end destination in mind. </p><p>After a time, he found a mostly empty rec room and decided to settle in to read some new scientific journals. The sole occupant of the room sat in an armchair near the center with his feet tucked underneath him, and an old style paper book in his hands. He was so deeply entrenched in the story that he didn’t even seem to notice Spock enter the room and choose a table roughly 3.2 meters away. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced again at the young man as he took his seat. He appeared to have a strong and sturdy build, but his eyes were soft and though his mouth gave no expression, his eyes almost seemed to smile on their own. He wondered what this man would look like when he actually smiled or laughed. </p><p>He mentally chastised himself and shook the feeling away. He pulled out his PADD and choose something that was not related to his current work, so Captain Pike could not accuse him of not taking a rest. He was quickly engrossed in the reading, however after 19.7 minutes, he was pulled from his thoughts when the stranger laughed. It was only a short chuckle, but it seemed to have caught him off guard, because he bit his bottom lip and pressed his hand over his mouth to stifle further noise. He looked around to see if anyone had heard, and started when he made eye contact with Spock. </p><p>“Sorry, I didn’t see you there. I’ll be more quiet,”</p><p>Spock gave a nod in reply, but something about the interaction made his heart beat too fast, and the blood rushed in his ears. As he tried to process his response, a voice from the hallway made its way into the rec room. “Isn’t there a coffee shop on deck 4?”</p><p>“Yeah, but it isn’t worth the credits. It tastes exactly the same as replicated coffee, and this is free,”</p><p>An ensign and a lieutenant both got coffees from the replicator and sat down at a table on the other side of the room. </p><p>“Wait, oh my god, Grace, did you hear who we’re here to pick up?” the lieutenant asked suddenly. When the ensign, Grace, shook her head, she continued. “Jim. Kirk.” She said it with such grandeur and finality, one could have assumed she was talking about royalty.</p><p>“Who?” Grace replied, causing Jim to let out a breath that Spock thought could have been something like a laugh. </p><p>“Jim Kirk. Legendary womanizer. He left a trail of broken hearts all through the academy,”</p><p>The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Following a hypothesis, Spock typed the name James Kirk into the Starfleet database on his PADD, and a photo of the man stared back at him, a proud grin gracing those pink lips. If his eyes darted over the information section, that was hardly intentional. He had not intended to learn of his genius level IQ, or his academy and service record that clearly pointed to the path of captaining a starship including his recent transfer to the <em>USS Farragut</em>. Though when he read the colony name Tarsus IV, he quickly closed the file. That was too personal even for an accidental reading. </p><p>“Honestly, Eddie, I’ve never even heard of him,”</p><p>“Are you serious? I feel like everyone at the academy was friends with at least one of his ex-girlfriends,”</p><p>“Exes.” If Spock’s hearing had been that of a human he wouldn’t have heard the muttered word at all, as it was, he still wasn’t sure he heard right. </p><p>“I heard he took one girl on a trip to Risa,” </p><p>“That was Gary, and he took me.” This time Spock was sure of what he heard Jim whisper into the book. </p><p>“The pleasure planet?” </p><p>“Mhmm.” She had a grin that implied it was scandalous, however Spock was aware that it was a fairly common vacation planet for academy students especially those involved in romantic relationships.</p><p>“Alright, but it’s not like he’s the first person to bring a girl-” </p><p>“Guy,” Jim spoke over her to himself.</p><p>“-to a pleasure planet,”</p><p>Spock was intrigued by his insistence on correcting the girls, but not loud enough that they would hear. </p><p>“Grace, you’re not hearing me. I was friends with Naire when she dated him and her stories would make an Orion blush,” </p><p>“If you were such good friends with them, you would know their proper pronouns,” he muttered bitterly, but still hid his words behind the pages. </p><p>Spock continued to observe his behavior. His average number of pages read per minute plummeted until it seemed as though he was not reading, but just staring blankly at the words, while listening to his new crewmates gossip about himself. Jim grimaced when risque stories were told, and corrected them under his breath when they used improper pronouns and rolled his eyes when it was assumed that he was only attracted to women. It was a fascinating display that Spock could not help but listen to. His own reading comprehension also lessened as he eavesdropped on the girl’s conversation and Jim’s personal musings. He was also intrigued by the fact that as they spoke of Jim Kirk, neither of them recognized that he was less than 4 meters from where they sat. </p><p>As he pondered this, Jim groaned quietly and snapped his book closed. Trying to appear as though he hadn’t heard every word that had transpired, Spock dove back into his reading. However, a moment later, a light tap on his shoulder made him look up. Jim grinned down at him, looking mildly sheepish.</p><p>“Hey, I’m going to go get a coffee from that cafe down on deck 4. Want to come?”</p><p>“I-” he was startled by Jim’s sudden appearance, “I do not drink coffee,”</p><p>“Oh. Alright. I’ll see you around then.” Spock had never been an expert at reading human expressions, but he thought that Jim seemed disappointed before he turned and left the rec room. </p><p>Quickly, Spock gathered his belongings and followed Jim with long, quick strides. </p><p>“Do you think they have tea at the cafe?” he called after Jim in the corridor. </p><p>Jim froze and turned over his shoulder. He grinned and his smile was even brighter than Spock had imagined. “Yes, I imagine they would,” he waited as Spock caught up. </p><p>“My name is Spock”</p><p>“I’m Jim,”</p><p>“I had assumed as much.” Something about Jim made him want to abandon the half-truths and exaggerations. “Vulcan hearing is significantly better than that of humans,”</p><p>“So I guess that means you heard all of that?” He gestured back toward the rec room. </p><p>“I would like to clarify that it was not my intention to eavesdrop. I simply overheard,” </p><p>“Of course.” That smile sent Spock reeling again. “I just had to get out of there. You know, I’m not actually like that. A lot of what they said was either over-exaggerated or total lies,”</p><p>“Indeed, many of the anecdotes sounded somewhat hyperbolic,”</p><p>“Honestly, I don’t even know how those rumors get started. Like yeah sure, I date around a little bit and can come across as a flirt, but ‘womanizer’? That’s just insulting. I’ve never even been shy about being bisexual so I don’t know why everyone assumes I’m straight.” He took a moment before shaking his head and chuckling. “Sorry I’m rambling,”</p><p>“No apology is necessary. There is a pleasurable experience connected with the hearing of your voice.” The statement was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Next to him, Jim blushed a beautiful pink before gently grazing his fingers across Spock’s wrist, sending electricity through his arm, from fingertip to shoulder. </p><p>“Come on, let’s go this way.” He gestured down another corridor. </p><p>“The path we are on is the most efficient course to reach the correct section of deck 4,” </p><p>“Yeah, I know,” he bit his bottom lip, “but hardly anyone takes this way. We would be practically alone,” </p><p>The command to make his feet follow Jim bypassed his brain entirely, and yet he felt himself moving into the nearly empty corridor. As they walked side by side, Jim chattered away happily, and Spock crossed his arms behind his back to allay the desire to reach out and grab him by the hand. </p><p>But then he recalled the final piece of advice Michael had given him. <em>Find the person who seems farthest from you and reach for them. Let them guide you.</em> Perhaps this is what she meant. Though he did not reach his hand out just yet, he began to believe that he could learn. </p><p>If nothing else was gained from this foray to a coffee shop two decks down, he could at least honestly tell Captain Pike that he had done more than just meditate in his quarters and read scientific journals.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>brought to you in part by: william shatners fucking twitter and strange new worlds 'toying with' making bi jim canon</p></blockquote></div></div>
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